Short Summary

Jordan's Government on Monday (4 January) won a vote of confidence from the House of Representatives after a three-hour debate on Prime Minister Wasfi Tell's policy statement.

Description

Jordan's Government on Monday (4 January) won a vote of confidence from the House of Representatives after a three-hour debate on Prime Minister Wasfi Tell's policy statement.

Voting was 40 for Government and one against. One deputy withdrew from the session before voting took place.

Mr. Tell's policy statement asked the House for a vote of confidence on its basis. He affirmed his Government's "insistence on the sanctity of the Palestinian people's right to their soil and homeland, and to determine their own future."
He said acceptance of the United Nations Security Council resolution or the American initiative for a Middle East settlement did not infringe the basic rights of Palestinians.

The House of Representatives consists of 60 members, half of them from the East Bank and the other half from the West Bank occupied by Israel in the 1967 war.

Thirteen West Bank deputies still live there, while three deputies have died and two other fled the country following last September's fighting between the Army and guerrillas.